This is an anonymous post series following one of our blogger’s ivf journey in real time. You can read parts 1, 2, 3 here.
On Wednesday, I again woke at 5am to drive 2 hours to our fertility clinic to get my check to see how many follicles I had growing. They also tested my estrogen level to be sure it was on track. I was really hoping for 10-20 follicles to grow. That sounds like a lot, but from what I’ve read it seems normal for only about half of the eggs retrieved to be fertilized and then only about half of those to survive until Day 5 for the embryo transfer. And then IVF generally only has a 40% chance of success after an embryo transfer. So, I was really hoping to see enough to give us at least 3-5 quality embryos.
When I first arrived they took my blood and then did an ultrasound to count and measure my follicles. I had only 6 that measured between 8 and 10mm, so I was a bit upset. The doctor said I had a few micro-follicles growing, but they weren’t big enough to measure, so he increased my dosage from 300IU of Gonal-F to 375IU. My estrogen was on the low side, but this corresponded to the fact that I only had 6 measurable follicles.
Of course I was disappointed, but I asked in a couple of different IVF forums and thankfully connected with other women who had a similar number of follices and ended up with successful pregnancies. Of course I would rather have more eggs, but I tried to focus on quality over quantity and tried to be patient and hopeful for the next scan on Saturday. I also added another hormone injection to my nightly ritual. This one is called Centrotide and it prevents your body from ovulating on its own. They want to control the exact time of ovulation of all of the eggs to line up with the retrieval time.
Cetrotide, Menopur, and Gonal-G Injections
When I went back on Saturday for another check, I was so grateful that there were 11 measurable follices! I was so excited! The largest ones were 14mm, and since 18-22mm is considered a mature follicle, I learned I would likely have at least 3 more days of stimulation. During the IVF stimulation process, follicles usually grow about 2mm per day, so this is why my RE predicted at least 3 more days of stims. This meant purchasing more medication, which is definitely not cheap (one injection pen of 450IU of Gonal-F is $470 out of pocket!), but worth it to get my follicles where they needed to be. I’ve already had to re-order once when my dose was increased after Wednesday, and now that I will be stimming longer than I originally thought, I re-ordered a second time.
By the time you read this I will have already gone for my third check (Monday morning) and here’s hoping I’ll be close to the trigger shot that will release my eggs and allow them to retrieve them later this week!
Emotionally, I’m doing ok. I’m still really trying to focus on one day at a time and not get too worried about the outcome yet, since there are quite a few more steps along the way to get there. I’m getting a whole lot more used to my daily injections and I’m grateful that other than bloating and some anxiety, I’m not really feeling any crazy hormonal side effects that I anticipated. I’m continuing to try to eat healthy, going to acupuncture each week and hoping and praying those little eggs and follicles continue to grow! I’m also hoping I can stop stimming soon and move to the retrieval, mostly because I’m wanting to move forward, but also to prevent spending more money on medication. Even with pretty good insurance coverage, I have already spent over $4,000 on medication alone and hoping that’s all I’ll have to spend. Tonight (Sunday) night will be my 10th day of stimming and I’m hoping the end is in sight.
If you did IVF how many days did you do stimulation hormones? Did you stim for longer than you anticipated?
pear / 1881 posts
I hope everything went well this morning and I know the stress of driving back and forth 2 hours each way to go to monitoring appointments! I did the exact same thing and was very thankful for my phone being pull of podcasts to listen to
I think that I averaged 10-11 days of stimming when I did it and when I ran out of meds, I was very lucky as my clinic gave me samples to keep so that I didn’t have to buy any extra. Well, I did have to buy extra once, but there were two or three other times that they just gave it to me, which I was SO thankful for! At this point, try to drink a ton of water, eat fiber, etc to get your body in prime position for after retrieval! I hope that all goes well and will be praying for you. 
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
Sending you nothing but positive vibes!!!
guest
For each of my four rounds I stimmed for about 12 to 16 days. For my last round, I only made 3 eggs, one survived to say 5 transfer and now I have a beautiful 7 month old daughter. I hope you end up with more embryos than me but if not, all you need is one strong one! Fingers crossed your appointment today went well.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
good luck! thank you for sharing. it is so much to go through.
guest
I have really enjoyed reading these posts, particularly because I’m on your same IVF schedule! I completed Day 10 of IVF meds yesterday morning (Sunday), and got the call from my doc to see him last night. He said I was ready for my trigger! I did my trigger at 1am this morning (Monday) and we’re scheduled for retrieval tomorrow. He originally instructed me to order 11 days of meds, so thankfully I didn’t have to reorder. I only produced follicles on my left side, but he said there were 5 strong ones that he thinks he can get. He told me he’s had several successful pregnancies with only 1 or 2 eggs, so he’s very positive about my 5 follicles. Good luck with your journey and I’ll keep following! P.S. I’m interested in how you’ve modified your activity/work level since starting IVF. I’ve read so many things online. Some say stop exercising, others say light exercise is okay. I plan to go back to work 2 days after retrieval if I can, but I may be too optimistic about how I’ll feel. I’d love to hear your perspective!
nectarine / 2436 posts
Gosh, I remember these days. It was so hard. All those shots and side effects. I had an IUI cycle with the same basic concoction of monitoring and drugs. It failed … BUT a month later, in May 2015 I went in to the fertility clinic (those first cycle days where they give you all your hormone levels and stats) and failed every test basically- I had 2 follicles, my FSH was through the roof, etc etc. My RE cancelled the cycle saying this was ‘not my month’ an IVF cycle would be pointless. We were devastated.
I got pregnant that month without any medications or interventions. (Actually, I did use progesterone suppositories). I don’t know how. I have a 3 month old now. He’s napping